Chord grids

A chord grid lays out chords in bars, with the barlines lined up from one row to the next. Grids are ideal for intros, solos and chord progressions where there are no lyrics to put the chords over.

A chord grid titled Outro, drawn as blocks. Each bar is a rounded panel containing chords, with strum arrows between rows, repeat marks, and numbered endings.

Writing a grid

How you mark a block of text as a grid depends on the format you use to edit your songs:

In Chords above text format, start a line with [Grid]. The grid runs until the next blank line. You can add a title with [Grid label="Outro"].
In ChordPro format, use {start_of_grid} and {end_of_grid}, or the short forms {sog} and {eog}.

The quick way

The easiest way to write a grid is to put one chord in each bar, separated by spaces:

[Grid]
C F Am G

This gives you four bars, each with one chord. You can use a few extras to describe more:

You write	Meaning
`Dm7_G7`	Two chords sharing one bar, half each
`A~D`	Two chords on the same beat
`%`	Repeat the previous bar
`%%`	Repeat the previous two bars
`*`	A bar you haven’t worked out yet. It is left blank, but keeps its width
`(C F Am G)3x`	Repeat the bars in brackets, three times
`\|\|`	A double barline
`<- Intro`	A label to the left of the row below
`>- Repeat 4 times`	A note to the right of the row below
`- Solo`	A note on its own line between rows

The detailed way

When you need more control, write the barlines yourself and put each beat in the bar. Chordle will line up bars with the same number of beats.

[Grid label="Verse"]
|| Am . . . | C . . . | D  . . . | F  . . . |
|  Am . . . | C . . . | E  . . . | E  . . . |
|  Am . . . | C . . . | D  . . . | F  . . . |
|  Am . . . | E . . . | Am . . . | Am . . . ||

Inside a bar, each space separated word is one beat:

You write	Meaning
`Am`, `G7`, …	A chord
`.`	A beat with no new chord
`/`	Strike the current chord again
`F~G`	Two chords on one beat
`%`	Play the same as the previous bar
`%%`	Play the same as the previous two bars

Barlines come in these forms:

You write	Meaning
`\|`	Single barline
`\|\|`	Double barline
`\|.`	End barline
`\|:`	Start of a repeat
`:\|`	End of a repeat. Add `x3` after it to say how many times
`:\|:`	End of one repeat and start of the next
`\|1`, `:\|2`	First and second endings (voltas)

Any text before the first barline in a row is shown in the left margin, and any text after the last barline is shown in the right margin. For example, Coda | D7 . | ... :| repeat 4 times.

In ChordPro, you can also give the grid a title with {start_of_grid label="Intro"}, and set its shape, for example {start_of_grid shape="1+4x2+1"} for one margin cell on each side and four bars of two beats.

Strum patterns

Start a row with |S straight after the first barline to show strum arrows under the chord row above it. Use |s to show only the arrows, without the barlines.

u is an upstroke and dn or d is a downstroke. Write dn~u to put both in the same beat.
Add a for an arpeggio, s for staccato or x for muted. A plain x is a muted strum with no direction.
Add + to accent a stroke.

A complete example

This grid uses most of the features above, written in ChordPro format:

{sog: label="Outro"}
|| Am . . | C . . | G . . | % |
|s dn u u | dn u u | dn~u . da | x . u+ |
|: Am . . | E7 . / |1 Am . . :|2 Am~E7 . . |.
{eog}

The grid is titled Outro, and begins with a double barline.
The first row has four bars of three beats, and the last bar uses % to repeat the one before it.
The second row is a strum row. Because it starts with |s, only the arrows are drawn, lined up under the chords above.
The third row starts a repeat with |:. E7 . / ends with a play-here slash, then first and second endings follow, the second ending having two chords on one beat (Am~E7). The final |. is an end barline.

Grid style

Chordle can draw grids in two styles, which you can choose between using the Chord grid style option in the Song presentation section of the settings.

Flat - the default. Bars are separated by thin barlines, like a traditional chord chart.
Blocks - each bar is drawn as a panel, which is easier to follow at a glance when you’re on stage.

The style applies to every song, and only changes the way grids look. Their layout and contents are the same either way. The grid in the picture above uses Blocks.

You can change the colours used for grids using the Grid colour in your song colour theme.

Transposing

Chords in grids change with the rest of the song when you change its key. Margin text, labels and notes are left alone.

Narrow screens

If a grid is the widest thing in your song and wouldn’t fit on screen, Chordle splits its rows into shorter ones so the song doesn’t need to shrink. Four bars might be shown as two rows of two, for example. Repeat barlines are split correctly, and strum rows stay with their chords. When there is room again, grids go back to the rows you wrote.

When Chordle can’t draw the grid

If Chordle can’t understand a row in a grid, for example when it contains a word that isn’t a chord, it shows that row as plain text instead, so you never lose content.

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